Bail, charges reduced for suspect in housing authority shooting

[Kate]

Philadelphia Inquirer

In a stunning move today, a municipal court judge reduced the charges and bail of a 17-year-old accused of shooting a Philadelphia Housing Authority police officer last month.

Judge Deborah Griffin reduced the bail for suspect Zahir Boddy-Johnson of North Philadelphia from what she called an "outrageous" $5 million to $75,000, an amount sought by the defendant's attorney, Michael Coard.

Following an verbal extended battle this morning with Assistant District Attorney Erica Wilson, the judge dropped the attempted murder charge against Boddy-Johnson and added an aggravated assault charge.

Boddy-Johnson is accused of shooting Craig Kelley, who was manning the security booth in the lobby of the Queen Lane Apartments in West Queen Lane Feb. 17.

"This is why crime is out of control," said Kelley's wife, Patricia, after today's hearing. "He'll be shooting someone else to pay for this crime soon."

In a statement read by police during the court session, Johnson said he tried to hold up the housing authority officer on Feb. 17 to get money to pay restitution to the courts for a previous crime.

"We disagree," Wilson said after the hearing about the decision on the bail and charges. "We feel the evidence is strong and we will attempt to rearrest the defendant."

The District Attorney's Office this afternoon said it plans to re-arrest Boddy-Johnson on the attempted charges today.

Coard, Boddy-Johnson's attorney, said his client was quickly trying to raise money for the new bail set this morning.

The victim of the shooting - Craig Kelley, a 17-year-veteran cop - his wife and colleagues were outraged by the decision.

Standing next to his wife in the hallway, a bitter Officer Kelley said "I'm still in pain. The bullet made a large hole (in his left side) that is still healing."

"If this happens to a police officer, what does it take for someone who is not a police officer to be held for attempted murder," he asked.

The defendant's attorney wearing braids and a tan suit quoted the 1997 Supreme Court decision of the Commonwealth v. Young in persuading the judge that the youth, who sat silently next to him, may have been attempting to harm but not necessarily kill Kelley.

The decision met with sighs and harrumphs of agreement from relatives who made up two rows of spectators in the courtroom.

Johnson, of the 2300 block of North Diamond Street, was facing charges with attempted murder, aggravated assault, robbery, weapons offenses and related charges following the Feb. 17 incident in the 300 block of West Queen Lane in which he shot Kelley.

Kelley was treated at Temple University Hospital. The shooting occurred while Kelley was manning the security booth inside the Queen Lane Apartments.

A bullet proof vest and quick thinking were said to have saved Kelley's life as the suspect reportedly knocked on the door of the security booth and then opened fire as Kelley attempted to shut the door of the bullet-proof booth.

The suspect ran off but was captured shortly afterwards by a Philadelphia police officer Robert Lee.

[Kate]

Charge dropped, reinstated against 17-year-old in shooting

Philly.com

Ruling in shooting of PHA cop sparks ire

PHILADELPHIA - A 17-year-old again faces an attempted murder charge in the shooting of a Philadelphia Housing Authority officer who was wounded last month.

The charge against Zahir Boddy-Johnson was dismissed by a municipal judge Monday but was quickly refiled.

Defense attorney Michael Coard says Boddy-Johnson only intended to rob Officer Craig Kelley of his laptop and gun when he shot him on Feb. 17. Kelley was staffing a security booth in an apartment lobby. Judge Deborah Griffin agreed the shooting was reckless rather than deliberate.

But the District Attorney's Office immediately reinstated the attempted murder charge. Prosecutors also successfully appealed a reduction of Boddy-Johnson's $5 million bail.

---------------------------------

Phillynews.com

A judge yesterday dismissed an attempted-murder charge in the shooting of a Philadelphia Housing Authority police officer last month, prompting outrage among police and prosecutors.

"Give him another m---------ing rifle. He can just walk. That's just madness," one PHA police officer, who did not want to give his name, said right after yesterday's preliminary hearing.

The chorus of anger in the hallway continued with a city police officer shouting: "This is why crime's out of control!"

PHA Police Officer Craig Kelley, who was shot Feb. 17 as he manned a security booth in a Germantown public-housing high-rise, told reporters: "What does it take? Does it take for him to shoot somebody who's not a police officer with an assault rifle? This was a rifle, a military rifle."

The officers were reacting to Municipal Judge Deborah Shelton Griffin's dismissal of an attempted-murder charge against defendant Zahir Boddy-Johnson, 17, the alleged shooter, and her decision to then lower his bail from $5 million to $75,000.

Griffin held Boddy-Johnson, of Diamond Street near 23rd, North Philadelphia, for trial on aggravated-assault and weapons offenses.

Hours later, the District Attorney's Office refiled the attempted-murder charge and also filed a petition in Common Pleas Court to have Boddy-Johnson's bail reinstated to $5 million. Judge Benjamin Lerner did so, pending a hearing Thursday.

Kelley, 49, testified at yesterday's hearing that he was manning a security booth inside the Queen Lane Apartments on Queen Lane near Pulaski Avenue when a man knocked on the door.

After Kelley opened the door, a man with a scarf covering his face pointed a rifle at him and "stated, 'Don't move!' " Kelley testified.

"I tried to slam the door as hard as I could," Kelley said, but the gunman shot him once in his front-left torso, above his hip.

The gunman fired two more times after the door closed, hitting the booth, Kelley testified.

Boddy-Johnson allegedly confessed to the shooting, according to a statement read in court yesterday by Homicide Detective Patrick Mangold.

When asked why he had shot the officer, he said: "I was going to rob him when he opened the door to the booth. I shot the gun one time and then he closed the door. I then shot two more times while he was inside the booth. I was shooting through the glass, but I don't think the bullets went through. I was just shooting."

Boddy-Johnson said he wanted to rob the officer's laptop and gun so he could "sell it [to pay] restitution for my stolen-car case."

He said he used an SKS rifle. "I bought it off the street," he said. "It came with the bullets."

He told police he had used the rifle in target practice, shooting at bottles in a park at 25th and Diamond streets.

He also said he dropped the rifle a couple of blocks from the high-rise as he was running away. Police recovered a rifle believed to be the weapon used.

Defense attorney Michael Coard yesterday argued for a dismissal of the attempted-murder charge, saying that, by law, "simply firing a gun at somebody . . . is not attempted murder."

Coard also called the $5 million bail an "outrageous ransom."

Assistant District Attorney Erica Wilson argued for Boddy-Johnson to be held on the attempted-murder charge, contending that he had been aiming at Kelley's chest, a vital part of the body.

Griffin reasoned that the defendant had shot at the officer as a "reaction."

"He didn't expect the officer to close the door. . . . ," the judge said. "He was surprised, and that's why he fired."

Boddy-Johnson was previously arrested Aug. 21, after he was found trying to steal a Jeep Cherokee on Girard Avenue near 20th Street in Fairmount, according to police records. The Jeep belonged to a police detective.

The case was resolved in Family Court without a trial after Boddy-Johnson agreed to pay restitution to the Jeep's owner.

Griffin, meanwhile, faces her own challenge in the state Supreme Court.

On March 5, the state Attorney General's Office and the Philadelphia D.A.'s Office argued before the court that Griffin be removed from the bench because she had pleaded guilty in 1984 in federal court to two felony counts involving the use of a false identity.

In 1982, before Griffin became a judge, she had used a false Social Security number to obtain two credit cards.

Her attorney, Samuel C. Stretton, said last week that he believes that the high court "should look at the totality" of the case and not remove Griffin, who he says grew up in housing projects, turned her life around, and now "brings so much to the bench." *

[Kate]

And some background info on the POS criminal judge who should NOT be behind the bench:

Philly.com

JUDGING THE JUDGE

SUPREME CASE MAKES CASE FOR MERIT SELECTION

Municipal Judge Deborah Griffin is arguing before the state Supreme Court, but the case is her own survival as a judge.

We hope that supporters of merit selection will pay attention to the case for its potential to bolster the arguments of changing the way we elect judges in the commonwealth.

The case rests on Griffin's 1984 conviction for applying for credit cards using a fake social security number. She failed to disclose the conviction on her 1988 bar application. (She also failed to disclose it when the Daily News editorial board endorsed her for municipal court in 1999; this board later rescinded its endorsement.) Griffin's state license to practice law was suspended for two years and was reinstated in 1997. Two years later, Griffin ran for judge and lost, ran again in 2000, and won - despite the fact that the Bar Association did not recommend her - and she won a retention vote in 2006, despite another "not recommended" call.

Last year, the Supreme Court's judicial conduct board tried to get her off the bench because of the felony conviction, but the board was found to have no standing for such an action. Now, District Attorney Lynne Abraham and State Attorney General Tom Corbett are fighting in Supreme Court to have her removed from the bench.

The Supreme Court case rests in part on whether the crime falls under the "crimes of infamy" that disqualifies judges from sitting on the bench. (Her lawyer argues it doesn't; Griffin says that she wasn't technically convicted since she completed three years' probation.)

Despite what the court finds, it is disturbing that someone whose job it is to uphold justice insists on fighting against the state's highest court, the district attorney and the state's attorney general to stay on the bench.

It could also be seen as an indictment of the current way judges are elected to the bench; for example, despite the Bar Association's thorough vetting of candidates, enough voters disregarded its "not recommended" call on Griffin and voted her in.

That's why we're glad to hear that a bill calling for merit selection for judges at the appellate level should be introduced in Harrisburg next week.

We ca''t help believing that process - heavy scrutiny from a nominating committee, approval by the governor, and confirmation by the Senate - would keep candidates with questionable backgrounds from getting so far. *

[Kate]

Inquirer.com

Editorial: Felon on the Bench

No one to judge

It's fine that reality TV's "Judge Mathis" was a former gang member who did time behind bars.

But in the real world, it's far from entertaining to have a convicted felon in black robes.

For more than six years, Municipal Court Judge Deborah S. Griffin has been serving under just such a cloud.

Despite a 1984 felony fraud conviction that she has repeatedly tried to hide, Griffin, 54, has managed to practice law, worked as an assistant Philadelphia district attorney, and twice been elected judge, despite poor marks from the legal community.

Finally, after what appears to be inordinate tardiness, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court is considering whether Griffin should be bounced from the bench.

The court heard arguments last week in a case brought by Philadelphia District Attorney Lynne M. Abraham and state Attorney General Tom Corbett. They contend that, under the state constitution, Griffin's conviction disqualifies her as a judge. The state's judicial disciplinary panel reached the same conclusion in 2005. But the Supreme Court failed to act on the panel's recommended removal of Griffin because of procedural issues.

In her defense, Griffin says she has paid her dues and learned her lesson. Her attorney, Samuel Stretton, argues that Griffin's conviction for using a fake Social Security number to get credit cards isn't a "crime of infamy," as specified in the constitution.

Sorry, but a first-year law student could handle this case - if only on the grounds of common sense, as well as the absolute imperative to restore public confidence in the judiciary.

Griffin pleaded guilty to two felony charges in the credit-card scam, and then lied about it in her bar application. Her up-from-troubles life story is inspiring, but that doesn't mean she should sit in judgment of others - at a salary of $153,798 a year, no less.

Even on the merits, Griffin isn't well-regarded. She earned among the lowest ratings from lawyers in a Philadelphia Bar Association poll last year. In both 2001 and 2007, the bar rated Griffin "not recommended" for her refusal to participate in the ratings process.

That voters reelected her last year is further proof that Pennsylvania should select judges by merit-based appointment, not in political contests. For now, the Supreme Court needs to remove Griffin from the bench.

[Kate]

This POS had every intention of killing the officer. How Griffin could drop the attempted muder charge is ridiculous. The POS who shot the officer needs to rot in jail for the rest of his life (although a mighty long dirt nap would be preferable) and the POS judge needs to be removed from the bench. :mad:


Judge resets bail in shooting of police officer

Reinstatement of an attempted-murder charge against a N. Phila. teen will be decided in April.

Philadelphia Inquirer

Ending a dispute over bail granted to a North Philadelphia teen accused of shooting a police officer last month during a robbery, a Common Pleas Court judge yesterday set $750,000 as bail for the accused.

During yesterday's brief hearing, Judge Benjamin Lerner also set April 14 for a ruling on whether to reinstate a charge of attempted murder against 17-year-old Zahir Boddy-Johnson of the 2300 block of North Diamond Street.

Boddy-Johnson is accused of shooting Philadelphia Housing Authority Police Officer Craig Kelley, 49, in the left side during a robbery Feb. 17 at the Queen Lane Apartments in Germantown. The weapon Boddy-Johnson allegedly used was an SKS assault rifle.

During a preliminary hearing Monday, Municipal Court Judge Deborah Griffin unexpectedly dropped the attempted-murder charge and reduced the original bail, set at $5 million, to $75,000.

Griffin said the $5 million bail was excessive, calling it an "outrageous ransom."

And she agreed with Boddy-Johnson's lawyer, Michael Coard, that the teen had not intended to kill Kelley, just rob him of his laptop and handgun.

The District Attorney's Office immediately responded by appealing to Lerner to temporarily reinstate both the attempted murder charge and the $5 million bail until hearings were held on each.

Yesterday, Lerner agreed that $5 million was too high and reduced it to a level Assistant District Attorney Erica Wilson later called "satisfactory."

"Even as it stands, his record is incredibly serious," Lerner said of the teen during the hearing. The nature of the crime "indicates a substantial degree of danger to the community."

"Though there are no failures to appear, that is because he hardly had contact with the juvenile system," Lerner said. The potential danger "justifies extraordinary, high bail and additional safeguards."

Those safeguards, Lerner said, would include the stipulation that even if bail is posted, Boddy-Johnson could be released only on house arrest and electronic monitoring.

Even then, he would not be permitted to leave home except for court appearances or prescheduled appointments with his lawyer.

Prior to the ruling, Kelley, who is still healing from a gaping wound in his side, worried that if a suspect was bold enough to attempt to rob a police officer, "the rest of the civilians don't stand a chance."

Afterward, Kelley was relieved.

"I'm satisfied. This is an appropriate" amount, Kelley said.

The officer, who had been manning the security booth at the apartments the night he was shot, indicated that he was injured despite wearing a bullet-proof vest because police vests are rated only for pistols. A semiautomatic rifle of Soviet design, the SKS is a powerful firearm.

Prosecutor Wilson said she would continue to push for attempted murder charges in the case because the suspect fired from "three feet away at the chest" level.

That round wounded Kelley. After that, the officer secured himself inside the booth, and the robber fired two more rounds at the bullet-proof glass fronting the booth.

According to testimony from Homicide Detective Patrick Mangold, Boddy-Johnson tried to rob Kelley because he needed to raise money to pay restitution to the courts for a previous crime.

Wilson said the youth owed $4,000 in restitution from a conviction in a case involving the attempted theft of a car the Fairmount section on Aug. 21. That victim was a police officer as well.

[Kate]

The wench got the boot! :D

Pa. high court orders removal of Philly judge

Philadelphia Inquirer

HARRISBURG, Pa. - Pennsylvania's highest court Tuesday removed a judge from the Philadelphia Municipal Court because she pleaded guilty 24 years ago to federal charges of using a bogus Social Security number on credit card applications.

The state Supreme Court said the felonies Judge Deborah Griffin admitted committing constitute "infamous" crimes that under the Pennsylvania Constitution disqualify her from not only the judgeship to which she has twice been elected but from "any other office of trust or profit" in the state.

"We find that the public trust and public administration of justice would be adversely affected were (Griffin) to remain in judicial office," the justices said in their 4-0 ruling.

Griffin's lawyer, Samuel Stretton of West Chester, said he was "pretty upset" by the ruling and called his client's ouster for actions more than two decades ago "a tragedy." He said no appeal is possible because the high court has the final word on cases involving the state constitution.

After Griffin pleaded guilty in 1984, she was given a suspended prison sentence, placed on probation and ordered to pay $1,200 restitution. But her legal problems were only beginning.

In 1988, the Supreme Court suspended her from practicing law in Pennsylvania for two years because she falsely stated on her bar application that she had never been arrested or prosecuted for a crime.

Griffin was elected to a six-year term on the municipal court in Pennsylvania's largest city in 2001. Voters retained her for a second term in November.

During Griffin's first term, the State Judicial Conduct Board sought to have her ousted, but the Supreme Court dismissed the complaint on the grounds that the board had no standing. The complaint that prompted Tuesday's ruling was filed last year by the state attorney general's office and the Philadelphia district attorney's office.

The defense argued that Griffin's crimes involved a private commercial transaction and did not affect the administration of justice or undermine the public trust.

The justices, however, said the offenses fall into the constitutional category of "infamous" crime because they are classified as felonies, because they involve falsehoods and because of the need to protect the integrity of the courts. The justices also said Griffin failed to back up her claim that she was harmed economically by unreasonable delays in the prosecution of her case.

[smcc360]

Two points:

1) It's nice to see the right thing done in Philly, for once.

2) Kate has chosen an excellent avatar.

[Kate]

2) Kate has chosen an excellent avatar.

Why, thank you, sir!

And I have seen your pic in the members section, and that's enough to leave any lady with a smile on her face.

I'd say we're even. ;)

[normal1]

I'm sure I'm not the only one to say this but "its about time!".

In other news, how's the trial of the snotfaced kid going?